People have been asking me what I thought of the outcome of the election.
Disappointed, for sure. But I saw it coming.
People were definitely under the spell of an inexperienced Senator Obama over someone who had all the experience in the world but no charisma. The American people opted for image over substance, more taxes over less government. But McCain was no true conservative and if he had been he would have won. If anything, Obama won because he was successful in duping voters into believing he will cut taxes on the middle class at the expense of a sector that produces jobs. Reagan never had a "soak the rich" attitude likes Obama. The irony is that Reagan believed in less government and less taxation, but Obama is a big government proponent.
Statewide, I was pleased that Prop. 8 passed, but also totally expecting the militant homosexual backlash that won't stop until they get what they want. I'm gravely disappointed that our governor has expressed disappointment in 8's passage and that he has encouraged the gay and lesbian lobby to thumb its nose at the majority of Californians and try to overturn it.
Also disappointed that voters don't think that parents should know when their teen daughters are seeking to suck the life of their unborn baby into a sink. So much for the choice to become a grandparent.
Welcome to screwy California. No to gay marriage, no to unborn babies and yes to the rights of chickens. Perhaps it's Prop. 2's outcome that upsets me supremely. Basically the voters made a very unwise choice dealing with egg-laying hens.
I have no faith in voters in California, especially those from the big cities. Years ago the urban voters passed a ban on the hunting of mountain lions and what happened? The mountain lion population went up, outstripping the food source and they started eating people. Real smart.
Where's my proof that the farm ignorant big-city voter caused Prop. 2 to pass? Consider this: Rural Stanislaus County was one of 12 California counties to vote against Prop 2. Our county was 55.5 percent against Prop. 2. An overwhelming 72.3 percent majority of San Francisco County voters approved the measure. I doubt if any of them had ever worked with chickens like I have.
Proposition 2 requires that all breeding pigs, veal calves and egg-laying hens be housed in enclosures large enough to allow the animals to stand up, turn around, and fully extend their limbs. Producers have until 2015 to fully comply with the new law.
I have written about my belief that chickens, of all animals, are about the dumbest animals on earth and could care less if they are in a crowded pen than being held in a luxury Hyatt Regency penthouse suite. I used to work with them, and I know that the only reason God put these stupid animals on earth was so we could eat their eggs and their meat.
As a result of Prop. 2, California will go from the number five egg producing state to probably out of business. Local egg producers say the measure creates new problems for local egg producers that some say are insurmountable. Steve Gemperle of Gemperle Enterprises, a large Turlock-based egg producer, for example, said, "Voters have decided they don't want the egg industry in this state any longer."
Why? In California, egg-laying hens are kept in industry standard battery cages that offer about 70 square inches of room per hen. Under Prop. 2, cages could be required to offer as much as 5 square feet of space per hen. This change will be devastating in terms of additional housing and labor costs, and in potential food safety issues. Battery cages have been in use since the 1920s to protect both hens and their eggs from disease and injury. An early projection states that statewide retrofit of hen cages alone could cost more than $500 million over the next six years.
Gemperle said that California producers will be unable to keep up with Mexican and Midwest egg farms.
Don't be surprised if the egg industry leaves California, but we're used to this trend, aren't we? Burdensome regulation imposed by the state Legislature - I'm sorry but aren't the Democrats in control? - has forced lots of businesses to leave the state to save money, and with it jobs. If Gemperle folds, that's 200 local workers in just one company. Look for egg production in states like Iowa, Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania to take off.
Gloating over Prop. 2's passage, predictably is the animal rights crowd, which has an overall goal of getting people to quit eating animals, period.
Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, said California voters have "taken a stand for decency and compassion. They have said that the systemic mistreatment of animals on factory farms cannot continue and that all animals deserve humane treatment..."
I am tempted at times to leave all this insanity myself. Lots keep me in California. Geographically it can't be beat, and I've lived here all my life. But honestly, the mismanagement of the state government is depressing. Law-makers seem more concerned about bogus same-sex weddings and catering to illegal aliens than they do about cutting government spending to erase a whopping $11 billion deficit. Disaster is on the horizon, unless they wise up. But we keep electing the same people who refuse to change things to get us out of this mess.
The voters need to be taken to the woodshed. And the people they have elected just may be the people to do it.
How do you feel? Let Jeff know by emailing him at jeffb@cerescourier.com
Disappointed, for sure. But I saw it coming.
People were definitely under the spell of an inexperienced Senator Obama over someone who had all the experience in the world but no charisma. The American people opted for image over substance, more taxes over less government. But McCain was no true conservative and if he had been he would have won. If anything, Obama won because he was successful in duping voters into believing he will cut taxes on the middle class at the expense of a sector that produces jobs. Reagan never had a "soak the rich" attitude likes Obama. The irony is that Reagan believed in less government and less taxation, but Obama is a big government proponent.
Statewide, I was pleased that Prop. 8 passed, but also totally expecting the militant homosexual backlash that won't stop until they get what they want. I'm gravely disappointed that our governor has expressed disappointment in 8's passage and that he has encouraged the gay and lesbian lobby to thumb its nose at the majority of Californians and try to overturn it.
Also disappointed that voters don't think that parents should know when their teen daughters are seeking to suck the life of their unborn baby into a sink. So much for the choice to become a grandparent.
Welcome to screwy California. No to gay marriage, no to unborn babies and yes to the rights of chickens. Perhaps it's Prop. 2's outcome that upsets me supremely. Basically the voters made a very unwise choice dealing with egg-laying hens.
I have no faith in voters in California, especially those from the big cities. Years ago the urban voters passed a ban on the hunting of mountain lions and what happened? The mountain lion population went up, outstripping the food source and they started eating people. Real smart.
Where's my proof that the farm ignorant big-city voter caused Prop. 2 to pass? Consider this: Rural Stanislaus County was one of 12 California counties to vote against Prop 2. Our county was 55.5 percent against Prop. 2. An overwhelming 72.3 percent majority of San Francisco County voters approved the measure. I doubt if any of them had ever worked with chickens like I have.
Proposition 2 requires that all breeding pigs, veal calves and egg-laying hens be housed in enclosures large enough to allow the animals to stand up, turn around, and fully extend their limbs. Producers have until 2015 to fully comply with the new law.
I have written about my belief that chickens, of all animals, are about the dumbest animals on earth and could care less if they are in a crowded pen than being held in a luxury Hyatt Regency penthouse suite. I used to work with them, and I know that the only reason God put these stupid animals on earth was so we could eat their eggs and their meat.
As a result of Prop. 2, California will go from the number five egg producing state to probably out of business. Local egg producers say the measure creates new problems for local egg producers that some say are insurmountable. Steve Gemperle of Gemperle Enterprises, a large Turlock-based egg producer, for example, said, "Voters have decided they don't want the egg industry in this state any longer."
Why? In California, egg-laying hens are kept in industry standard battery cages that offer about 70 square inches of room per hen. Under Prop. 2, cages could be required to offer as much as 5 square feet of space per hen. This change will be devastating in terms of additional housing and labor costs, and in potential food safety issues. Battery cages have been in use since the 1920s to protect both hens and their eggs from disease and injury. An early projection states that statewide retrofit of hen cages alone could cost more than $500 million over the next six years.
Gemperle said that California producers will be unable to keep up with Mexican and Midwest egg farms.
Don't be surprised if the egg industry leaves California, but we're used to this trend, aren't we? Burdensome regulation imposed by the state Legislature - I'm sorry but aren't the Democrats in control? - has forced lots of businesses to leave the state to save money, and with it jobs. If Gemperle folds, that's 200 local workers in just one company. Look for egg production in states like Iowa, Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania to take off.
Gloating over Prop. 2's passage, predictably is the animal rights crowd, which has an overall goal of getting people to quit eating animals, period.
Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, said California voters have "taken a stand for decency and compassion. They have said that the systemic mistreatment of animals on factory farms cannot continue and that all animals deserve humane treatment..."
I am tempted at times to leave all this insanity myself. Lots keep me in California. Geographically it can't be beat, and I've lived here all my life. But honestly, the mismanagement of the state government is depressing. Law-makers seem more concerned about bogus same-sex weddings and catering to illegal aliens than they do about cutting government spending to erase a whopping $11 billion deficit. Disaster is on the horizon, unless they wise up. But we keep electing the same people who refuse to change things to get us out of this mess.
The voters need to be taken to the woodshed. And the people they have elected just may be the people to do it.
How do you feel? Let Jeff know by emailing him at jeffb@cerescourier.com
